Pa. house explodes, cops find pot plants next door

CORAOPOLIS, Pa.—Investigators were trying to piece together the shattered remnants of a western Pennsylvania home destroyed in an explosion, which also led to drug charges against a neighbor after authorities found marijuana plants in the aftermath of the blast.

"It's like a 1,000-piece puzzle blown up in the air and scattered all around," said Moon Township volunteer fire chief John Scott. "You get to find all the pieces and put them back together."

Officials were trying to determine the cause of the explosion that trapped the 47-year-old homeowner, Shawn Landa, who remained in serious condition with burns and other injuries at UPMC Mercy hospital in Pittsburgh.

Neighbors in Moon Township, about 10 miles west of Pittsburgh, found Landa buried in the rubble after the blast about 6:45 p.m. Saturday. Kim Towery—a retired flight attendant who lives several houses away—likened the explosion to "a massive sonic boom. Everything shuddered and you heard flying glass."

Some of that glass hit Alan Lisica, 61, who lived next door to Landa and was in the hospital Monday in fair condition with bruises and multiple cuts.

Police checking on Landa's other next-door neighbor, William Amend, smelled marijuana in his damaged home and obtained a search warrant. Police said they found several recently harvested plants and equipment used to grow marijuana, and have charged the 61-year-old man with drug possession.

Columbia Gas officials have said they found no natural gas leaks outside Landa's home, but investigators haven't ruled out a leak inside the house or problems with gas appliances as possible causes.

Donald Brucker, chief deputy fire marshal for Allegheny County, said it could take days or weeks to determine the cause. Among other things, investigators will try to X-ray the valve positions on gas appliances, including the home's furnace, clothes dryer, water tank and stove.